"Sir, the current situation is still in our favor." In terms of stereoscopic imaging, Admiral Zhang Bingye looked calm and composed. He then went on to state to his boss his thoughts and countermeasures that he had quickly formed after receiving the war report:

"The main purpose of the 'Genghis Khan' operation was to induce the main force of the enemy army to come to the decisive battle by attacking the enemy's national ships. Now we have achieved the previous goal. The battle just now destroyed more than 90,000 enemy civilian ships and tens of millions of civilians. However, the main forces of the enemy did not come. Although we have not yet received new information about the enemy's Central Fleet, according to the least optimistic scenario, even if they are mobilized at the start of the campaign, it will not be possible to return to the planet 'New Byzantium' in the next three days. And judging by the briefings of the logistical supply fleet, the enemy's cruiser fleet is not our opponent at all. Therefore, it is simply impossible for them to come to us for a head-on showdown. ”

After a brief analysis of the advantages to Manuel Velascos, Zhang Bingye changed his tone and continued in a worried tone:

"After summarizing the data fed back by the fleets, I believe that our remaining reserves are no longer enough to support us in a battle comparable to that of the previous one, and then return to the planet 'Aegis' along a relatively short route. Therefore, I suggest that our troops should act immediately, along the shortest course of the Silver Road, and return to the planet 'Aegis' before the enemy has yet to figure out our next move, and then look for fighters. ”

said a lot, Zhang Bingye actually wanted to retreat immediately, and he left behind the logistics supply fleet whose fate was unknown. Manuel Velaskos was unhappy about this. During his career, he has always been very taboo about "retreating".

"General Zhang, you don't have any other ideas than to retreat without a fight?" Velaskos asked with a grimace.

After thinking for a while, Zhang Bingye responded: "Mr. Minister, we have already reaped enough achievements, the logistics supply fleet has been destroyed again, the enemy's capital planet is in a major collapse, and our army has strategically grasped the initiative. As long as we rush back to the planet 'Aegis' in time to reorganize our supplies, we can still quickly launch a new offensive. ”

"But to give up like this, not only failed to achieve the strategic goal, but also was very dishonorable." Manuel Velaskos was reluctant to retreat. In fact, he, who had always been known for his bravery, could not tolerate such a run back to the starting position without even looking at the enemy fleet. What's more, as far as the known intelligence goes, the enemy has only a fleet of 5,000 cruisers, which is not his current opponent at all.

Seeing that Velascos was very reluctant, Zhang Bingye hurriedly issued a new suggestion, saying, "Okay, minister. It is better to withdraw the fleet from the sheath of the 'Himalaya' star first, discuss it with the fleet commanders, and listen to their thoughts. ”

Velascos hesitated and agreed to Zhang's final proposal.

When the encrypted communication with the Minister of Defense was turned off, Zhang Bingye let out a long sigh and said to his adjutant at his side, Major Sarah Pinker, with disappointment: "Miss Pinker, now you know why I have always envied Repnin and General Du Qifeng. ”

As the most important aide-de-camp to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the National Defense Forces, and a mistress of Zhang Bingye in personal relations, Sarah Pinker also listened to the conversation between the two chiefs, and was not surprised that Zhang Bingye confided in him, but comforted the old man, saying: "The general does not need to be disappointed. I think you should contact the three fleet commanders at once and agree with them in advance, after all, Minister Velaskos is no better than Admiral Bloomberg. ”

"Yes!" Zhang Bingye, who was awakened, looked at the beautiful Major Pink with bright eyes, "Thank you for reminding me." ”

The "Saul" 7 soon dispatched an unmanned notification ship to deliver the opinions and analysis of Zhang Bingye, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, to the three flagships, the "Weima" No. 4, the "Kuafu" No. 3, and the "Maui" No. 2.

Soon, the unmanned notification ship brought back a result that satisfied Zhang Bingye. Henry Highfield, commander of the Sixth Fleet, Zhou Jiande of the Eighth Fleet, and René Martin of the Ninth Fleet replied by agreeing with Zhang Bingye's opinion and agreeing to support the proposal to retreat at the following meeting.

Manuel Velaskos did not know that Chief of Staff Zhang Bingye had privately agreed with the fleet commanders to order the ship group to move to the outer side of the "Himalaya" stellar sheath in preparation for a communications conference. At the same time, an unmanned notification ship will be sent back to the planet "Aegis" to recruit new supply fleets and reserve ships to come to support. For his part, he hoped to continue fighting in the heart of the New Roman Empire, annihilating its main fleet and forcing the Senate to surrender.

After a precious delay of several hours, the communication meeting between the flagships was convened. As Zhang Bingye devised it, the three fleet commanders all agreed with his suggestion to withdraw the planet "Aegis", and Defense Minister Beraskos, who insisted on continuing the war, became a loner. But there was no way, he had to accept the unanimous opinion of his subordinates and prepare to retreat.

The huge fleet realigned again. The long strips of large battleships scattered one after another, accelerated their flight, fired the "Akuberi" engine, and entered the superluminal voyage, flying towards the periphery of the "Himalaya" stellar bow shock, leaving behind countless wrecks, fragments and corpses of the civilian ships of the New Roman Empire.

Looking at the images of chaos around the planet "Neo-Byzantium" brought back by an unmanned reconnaissance ship, Manuel Velaskos felt rather lost.

Looking back on his lifelong military career, although he won the trust of President Song Tingrong after retiring from the army and became the minister of national defense, his lack of major actual combat achievements has always been a great regret in his heart, and he has been criticized by others. Historically, the Immortal Interstellar Bundeswehr expeditions to the New Roman Empire have basically ended in failure. As soon as the battle plan of "Genghis Khan" was released, Manuel Velascos had the ambition to reverse the inertia of history and make up for the lack of his career as a horseman.

But now it seems that he still can't break out of that terrible historical curse. Although the entire expeditionary fleet was still strong, Henry Highfield's Sixth Fleet, Zhou Jiande's Eighth Fleet, and René Matan's Ninth Fleet were still fully established, but the vanguard Robb's "Klaus Liszt" task force had been destroyed, and the more important logistics supply fleet had also been destroyed.

After the slaughtering "battles" around the planet "Neo-Byzantium" earlier, the remaining ammunition and energy reserves of the three fleets have also been greatly reduced, and if there is another large-scale decisive battle, I am afraid that even returning home will be a problem.

There is another key factor that causes headaches for the Federal Minister of Defense. The previous attack on the retreating civilian ships of the New Roman Empire greatly affected the psychology of the officers and men of the Wehrmacht under his command. These young people, who have been educated in so-called universal values and humanitarianism at home, are brainwashed by the free and independent media of the Federation, and only know that the autocratic army of the new Roman Empire is ruthless. Unexpectedly, this time he really faced the people of the enemy country and launched a massacre against a civilian ship full of old, weak, women and children, which was an unprecedented psychological barrier and ideological impact.

Manuel Velascos even received an investigation report on the suicide of a junior sergeant who was overstepped by the captain of the ship, saying that the sergeant saw through the porthole the civilian ship attacked by his own warship ruptured, and a baby was washed out by the air current, and his body exploded in space due to a sharp loss of pressure, and he felt that he was guilty of a great crime and committed suicide.

The guilt was already spreading in this mighty expeditionary fleet.

As Chief of Staff General Zhang Bingye said, defeat seems inevitable, and the only thing left is whether or not a decent defeat can be achieved.

However, also looking at the images of chaos around the planet "Neo-Byzantium" brought back by unmanned reconnaissance ships, Jiang Ziyue, the fourth dictator of the new Roman Empire, who personally commanded the remaining less than 5,000 cruisers of the imperial border fleet, was determined to plunge his opponent into the abyss of complete defeat.

The defeat of the Commonwealth Wehr Expeditionary Fleet is decided, and only the choice of life or death remains. With only the strength of the weak cruiser fleet of the Frontier Fleet, and through the cruel sacrifice of tens of millions of imperial people, he succeeded in turning the strategic balance to the side of the New Roman Empire. But to completely swallow the main force of the opposing expeditionary fleet, his strength is far from enough.

Therefore, he was waiting for battle reports from two directions, one was Admiral Irina, who had gone to command the Central Fleet, and the other was Vice Admiral Li Jingxian, who had already secretly attacked.

At this time, at about 4 o'clock on December 10, 2920, Admiral Hervir Irina had effectively taken control of the Senate and the two detachments of the Roman People's Central Fleet, Charlemagne and Caesar. Powerful new battleships are rushing back to the heart of the new Roman Empire from two frontier directions.

Earlier, after flying away from the "neo-Byzantine" planet, the cruiser "Hanuman" No. 119 sent the dictator's newly appointed commander of the Central Fleet, Irina, to the vicinity of the "Afrika", the granary of the empire, in time to find the "Charlemagne" detachment that was slowly heading towards the "neo-Byzantine" planet.

Admiral Leopold Hisberg, who took over as commander of the detachment after the Battle of Aegis, was loyal to the conservative senators and ignored the instructions of the former consul Wang Zeren to return to the capital. However, despite his disdain for the new dictator Jiang Ziyue, he showed great respect for the arrival of his new direct boss, Irina. In fact, his personal relationship with Irina has always been very good. This is also one of the important reasons why Irina came to the "Charlemagne" detachment first.

In terms of distance from the planet "Neo-Byzantium", Admiral Trilisel stationed on the planet "Mount Meru" and his "Caesar" detachment are closer, but they usually have little intersection with Irina, and Gerasim Andreevich Tririesel, who many colleagues and subordinates privately call "the man in the suit", is a stubborn conservative, and he has a very disgusted and resistant attitude towards former reformist veterans like Wang Zeren and rookies in the army of Jiang Ziyue's seed. Irina also thought it would be difficult to gain her trust quickly, so she came to Heathberg first.

After seeing Hisberg on the battleship "Charlemagne", Irina directly conveyed to him the instructions of Jiang Ziyue, the dictator of National Salvation and War, to return to the direction of the planet "New Byzantium" and go to the planet "New Taiping" to set up an ambush to encircle and annihilate the main force of the Impatial Interstellar Bundeswehr invasion fleet. But she did not explain to her subordinates the major crisis of the state order, nor did she superfluously ask to be ordered.

So, Heathberg asked bluntly: "Helwell, can I know, what you really think?" ”

"For the dictator, or for the entire Senate and the Roman people?" Irina asked rhetorically.

After a little hesitation, Heathberg said, "You should know that we can't be all the way with Jiang Ziyue......

Irina said without thinking, "Yes." But I'm all the way with you. ”

"Do you have any plans?" Hisberg looked concerned.

But Irina didn't tell me about it, and instead said, "I want to wait until I meet General Tririsel and tell you the detailed plan." In a word: save Rome and save yourself. ”

After a little thought, Hisberg replied solemnly: "I am willing to obey all the orders of the commander!" VENI VIDI VICI.”

Then he respectfully raised his hand and made a Roman salute.

"Very well, Leopold. Order the fleet, immediately depart, and go to the planet 'New Taiping' as fast as possible, while you and I will take the 'Hanuman' 119 to meet the old stubborn Gerasim. Irina said, a smug smile on her face, a charming smile that was also full of nightmares.

When this smile appeared in front of Hisberg again, they had already flown to the planet "Mount Meru" on the cruiser "Hanuman" 119, and met with the commander of the "Caesar" detachment, Admiral Gerasim Andreyevich Tririsel.

Tellarisel was not completely resistant to Jiang Ziyue's orders, and when he saw Helvir Irina and Leopold Hisberg coming together, he confessed: "In this time of national crisis, if I still disobey the dictator's orders because of personal prejudice, and sit back and watch the enemy invade, it is tantamount to treason." However, Jiang Ziyue is so young, and he was cultivated and promoted by Wang Zeren's gang, once the domestic situation stabilizes, an old man like me will definitely be cleansed. ”

The old man in his mouth naturally refers to him and the conservative forces of the Senate behind him.

The three people present were all members of the conservative forces of the Senate, but their relationships were deep and shallow, and their foundations in the Central Fleet were also strong and weak.

Gerasim Andreevich Tririsel belonged to the man of Greened Roki, the leader of the conservative old party, the old general of the Central Fleet; Leopold Hisberg belonged to the Schmeitering von Damsberg faction, but he was a new general, and his prestige and appeal in the Central Fleet had not yet reached the desired heights; Hervir Irina has no clear support from the senators, but "Irina" is her mother's name, and her father's last name, which she doesn't usually use, is "Phoebe". This "Phoebe" is from the same large family as Wang Zeren's grandmother, the former consul Wang Xiaodi, also known as Damara Phoebe. Therefore, Hervir Irina's background is much more complex and powerful than her current two subordinates.

Naturally, Hervir Irina understood Tririthel's concerns. The dictators in the history of the New Roman Empire have done the ultimate in "rabbit dead dog cooking", and for them now, according to historical experience, it will probably be a luxury to "hide all the birds". After all, even if Jiang Ziyue himself had no intention of killing, the reformist patriarchs who supported him and his subordinates such as Gato and Karios would also obstruct him.

"The dictator did not promise me anything when he appointed me commander of the Central Fleet, so I reckon that after the enemy has been repelled and the retreat of the 'New Byzantine' planet has been completed, there will inevitably be a bloody storm," she said to Tririthel. Even if he doesn't want to, the people around him may not let us go. ”

"Shall we not bring about our own destruction if we obey him in this way?" Tririthell's old face was full of wrinkles of worry.

"If we disobey like this, we will definitely put ourselves in an even more disadvantageous situation." Irina analyzed, "The current Jiang Ziyue has unprecedented popularity, power has reached the top, and the situation of the whole country also requires our soldiers to do their best." At this time, we cannot be allowed to rise up against the dictator, we cannot guarantee that our captains and soldiers will obey us, and if the dictator calls on them to rise up and overthrow us, I am afraid that we will never see the light of the two gods of war again. ”

"General Irina, you can tell us the detailed plan." Heathberg said.

"Before I set out from the planet 'New Byzantium', I received a secret message from General Li Jingxian." Irina turned to revealing other secrets to her men.

"Li Jingxian?" Tririsel questioned, and then quickly said with disdain, "I don't know how thick-skinned that boy who was so happy to be captured dared to return to serve in the Central Fleet. ”

Irina ignored Triritheer's taunt at Li Jingxian and continued: "General Li accepted Jiang Ziyue's instructions and led the 'Mao' fleet to secretly expedition to the Immortal Federation to the planet 'Andromeda' to carry out a diversionary attack. This trick proved that the dictator was indeed bold, and that the situation was so critical that he dared to send disloyal people to take risks. But it also gave us the best chance. The existing forces of the Central Fleet are in our own hands. ”

"Therefore, our plan is that we will temporarily follow Jiang Ziyue's instructions and go to the planet 'New Taiping', the sooner the better. Then according to the situation changes, we make a choice. Personally, I don't know much about the details of Jiang Ziyue's plan to repel the enemy, but from the confidence and instructions he showed when he approached me before, with his ability and the strength of the border fleet, he should still be able to force the enemy's main force to retreat to the area of the planet 'New Taiping'. At that time, we will ambush the enemy and start a war of annihilation. But we don't need to go into battle, let go of the enemy to preserve our strength, and then carry out the next move according to the decisions of the senate. ”

"But let go of the enemy's main force, we are guilty of the crime, and we are very suspicious of raising self-respect." Heathberg said worriedly that Irina's plan clearly carried significant political risks.

"So what? Could it be that Jiang Ziyue can directly run over and shoot us? Irina asked rhetorically.